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Grammar Girl's 101 Words Every High School Graduate Needs To Know (2011)

by Mignon Fogarty(Favorite Author)

4.06 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0312573456 (ISBN13: 9780312573454)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

St. Martin's Griffin

review 1: I managed to graduate from high school and live another 20 years without knowing many of these words. If asked to define canard, bellicose, fungible, kudzu, nadir, or schadenfreude I would have failed a test!The author gives a great explanation and definition of each word and then follows up with a quote from a movie, TV show, famous person or famous quote that use the word in context.It was a falsehood, a canard, a prevarication. Oh, why beat about the bush. It was a simple lie told by a little girl named Sandy. ~ From Puff the Magic Dragon in the Land of Living Lies.You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Towers ~ Brad Pitt in Fight ClubIf you are looking for a fun way to improve your vocabulary give Grammar Girl's book a try.
review 2: ... moreWhen I first flipped through this book, a few entries caught my eye. (Glacier? Really?) I wondered why Fogarty had included them in a list of words of importance for high school grads. Then I read it. Now I get it. (Yes, glacier. Really.)The words in this book aren't necessarily ones that high school grads will know if they did their homework. I've seen similar lists for high school grads, and they usually do include boring stuff like hypothesis that grads should know when they get a diploma.This one's different. If incoming college students knows these words, they'll be a step ahead in cultural literacy and understanding the world around them. Including:the newspolitics and what the politicians are saying (or calling each other)technology (important in today's world)science (ditto)and even pop cultureThe book has a fun tone. It's a quick and easy read with lots of white space (easy on the eyes) and humorous drawings. The words are alphabetical, and every letter of the alphabet gets at least one.A few of my favorites:galaxy (New etymology for me.)ironic (Please, please, people! Learn this one and use it correctly.)epic (And not just as "epic fail.")mandate (I love how its got a history that's the reverse of verbification of nouns.)canard (New word for me.)ad hominem (A must-know for election years.)Romance languages (Before, I could have told you what they are, but I didn't know why until now.)ubiquitous (I love a good word joke, and you'll find one here.)The explanations are easy to understand, and each word gets a quotation to show how it's used. I really enjoyed these; they're totally entertaining. She quotes classics like Shakespeare and Jane Austen, contemporaries like Dave Berry and Obama, and even fictional characters like The Simpsons and House. (The 101st word quotes someone many of my friends will perk up at: Ezra Taft Benson.)In the end, if you read the whole thing, you'll get more than 101 words, because several entries include opposites and related words. This is one I'll be keeping on my shelf. And making my teens read. less

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